Archived: Pine Court

Pine Court provides personal care to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care service. At the time of our inspection 34 were receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service

People were happy living in their apartments and using the facilities at Pine Court. They told us they felt safe and secure. They liked the staff who looked after them and felt safe and comfortable when staff supported them. Communal areas were kept safe and were clean and well maintained.

Staff knew each person well. They knew about people’s likes and dislikes and their preferences about how they wanted to be looked after. People were supported to take their medicines when they needed them. People’s medicines were safely stored.

People’s care plans included assessments of risks associated with their care. Staff followed the risk assessments to ensure that people received safe care. Staff knew how to report any concerns about people’s safety and well-being.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs in a timely way. People received personal care visits from staff when they expected them. People told us that when they used their alarms from their apartments, staff came quickly.

Staff went through a thorough recruitment process so that the provider knew they only employed suitable staff. Staff undertook training that supported them to have the knowledge and skills to do their job and effectively meet people’s needs.

People received support with making their own meals and / or used the Pine Court restaurant. They told us they were very pleased with the quality of meals they could choose from.

People had access to health services when they needed them. Healthcare professionals supported staff to help people maintain or improve their health. Activities at Pine Court included keep fit exercises to support people’s well-being.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People made choices in all aspects of their lives. Staff respected people’s choices and preferences and people’s views were listened to and acted upon.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and encouraged people to be as independent as possible.

People had use of facilities at Pine Court such as a restaurant and a communal lounge where activities took place.

The manager monitored the quality of care and support people experienced and acted on their feedback.

Lessons were learnt when mistakes were made. For example, after a series of medications errors the management of medicines was reviewed and improved.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection we rated this service as Good (report published on 10 September 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

Pine Court is an extra care housing service that provides personal care to people who are tenants. At the time we inspected Pine Court was providing personal care to 35 people who lived at the scheme. The service caters for older people.

The registered manager was not in post at the time of our inspection but had not at the time of the inspection requested to be removed from our register which meant their details were still present on the provider's registration at this time. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe living at Pine Court. People said there was enough staff to ensure they received care and support when needed. We found systems were in place to identify risks to people and staff knew about these and how to minimise risks to people. People were supported by staff who were employed after appropriate checks were carried out. People were satisfied with how they received their medicines.

People had confidence that staff had the right skills and knowledge to care for them. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s individual needs and how to meet them. People’s rights were promoted because staff were aware of the need to gain people’s consent before providing care. People were supported with food and drink in a way that addressed their needs, and met their preferences. People were supported to access healthcare professionals when needed.

People said staff were caring, kind and respectful. People thought staff respected their dignity and privacy and they were able to make choices about how their care was delivered. People’s independence was promoted.

People were involved in planning their care. Changes to people’s needs and preferences were responded to by the provider. Staff understood what people needed and knew their preferences. People knew who to complain to and were confident the provider would try and resolve these.

People felt the service was well led, with systems in place to ensure changes in management did not impact on the service. There were systems to capture people’s views and monitor the quality of the service. Staff were well supported by the provider and happy working at Pine Court.

Records showed that people's consent was recorded on their care records. People told us that care workers never supported them without asking for their verbal consent.

People told us the care and support they received was timely and caring. One person said, "The staff are great". We found that people all had care records which showed the support needs of people and any identified risks.

The provider had a system in place to support people with their medicines. People told us that their medicines were administered on time as they would expect.

We found that the provider had a process in place to recruit care workers and carry out the appropriate checks to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. One person said, "The staff are caring and support me when I need it".

The provider had a system in place to ensure the quality of the service provided to people was monitored.

People told us that staff respected their privacy, dignity and supported their independence.

Records we saw showed that care was delivered in a person centred way. One person said, "Staff care for me how i want and in a timely manner".

People told us they felt safe. Records we saw showed procedures were in place to keep people safe from harm and staff knew how to report any abuse.

Staff told us they were being supported to do their jobs and received regular supervision, training and attended staff meetings.

We found that systems were in place to monitor the quality of service delivery. One person said, "I do get questionnaires to complete about the service".